Bandages

In the Meantime

The Muse Sway

Disclaimer: Do not own any of these cool characters EA Sports Big does so…. Don't sue!

Mac spent most of his spare time preparing for the tournament. He made sure every board he had was carefully waxed, had every accessory in perfect condition, all the official business was straighten out, and made sure to practice every chance he got. The closer the tournament got the more people spent their spare time practicing. It seemed that the foreigners had the worst luck in remembering the course especially Kaori.

During mid-day he decided to practice at the Crow's Nest. To his very least surprise Moby and Zoe were already there standing there seeming to be watching who ever was currently on the course. Mac walked up beside Moby staring at what seemed like Nate and Kaori who at mid-run. They looked up at the mega-sized screen that had the camera's on them. They both seemed to have trouble, Nate being very heavy and Kaori the exact opposite. Unfortunately Kaori kept missing her grinds resulting to some nasty wipe outs but it was nothing compared to the spill she took right in front of Nate which she miscalculated her jump and landed practically between a rock and some dead branches. Nate had stopped to check if she was alright. After a few seconds she stood up and shook off some snow as she just smiled and urged Nate to carry on with his run. Mac noticed that his eyes were watery from the constant staring at the screen with out blinking. He looked down with a sigh.

"Aye, had to admit that course is a woozy." he said out loud to himself. Mac not knowing if it was aimed for him and Zoe just kept on staring down. "Well I'm going back to lodge, coming love?" he said as he turned around.

"Yeah, I'm coming!" she yelled back at him. Then spoke more quietly looking up at the giant screen once more. " I must admit that girl has guts but it amazes me more is how she just laughs it off, you know not getting angry or sad. Hey, well that's Kaori for yeah." she ended on a high note and she too left for the lodge.

Mac waited for her and Nate to get off the course before he started his race, he tried to finish it as fast as possible not concentrating on putting much efforts on his tricks. However, when he got to the bottom she was no longer there. Mac laid on his bed after his warm shower. Somehow even that couldn't help shake off the cold feeling that stayed dormant in his gut. He knew something was wrong when he didn't want to sign autographs for his fans or eat dinner with anyone. Yet it seemed everyone felt the same way. Perhaps it was nerves for tomorrow it was the first practice run for the Snow Jam. Mac after much thinking finally fell asleep.

0.0.0.0

"Welcome to peak one's Snow Jam practice round." The female commentators voice echoed through out the parameter. " Boarders for the first practice run are in this order, Allegra Sauvagess in position one, Mac Fraser in position two, Elise Riggs in position three, Griff Simmons in position five, and Moby Jones in position six." all the boarders that were called got into their positions as the commentator went on . " remember starting rules have not changed and good luck." they all waited patiently Mac adjusted his goggles before the lights turned on he then got into position waiting to be released from the starting gate. Red, Yellow, Green. "Go" he said softly to himself and pushed himself through the gate. He boarded down to the first jump smoothly however everyone was keen to be on the other two jumps as well, in fact most riders were on the same wave length for the exception of Moby who took a shortcut through the woods mid ways through. Mac made it in third place which was three minutes and twenty two seconds. He was sweaty and as soon as he saw his time he shrugged.

" Not bad, huh?" she tilted her heads towards the score board her time being three minutes and fifteen seconds. Mac nodded and took off his goggles before answering.

"Not bad, not bad, for a noob!" he laughed at her teasingly as they continued to walk off the finishing area.

"Not bad, eh, at least you didn't say for a girl." she said as they made their way up towards the bleachers and sat beside each other while the other boarders made it through their practice run which consisted of Kaori, Nate, Viggo, Psymon, and Zoe. Mac was slightly uplifted when Zoe beat her finishing time by one second, followed by Kaori who beat him by three seconds and Nate who got the same time. They all made it up at the lodge still not exactly in talking moods ate to themselves or some people which seemed like not at all.

The next day it was Metro City which was by far a lot more complicated then the Snow Jam This time however the second group went first and his group second. To be perfectly honest it was disaster to most of the riders, all of them had a least two or three wipeouts. Everyone was more than happy to know they had at least one day off before the tournament started. Mac woke up this morning and for once during the whole week and a half was more than happy not to take the opportunity to practice. He woke up and ate breakfast with Nate and Griff and he didn't mind it. Somehow he had a new attitudes towards Nate, more like admiration for he insisted on still practicing. He seemed to have stepped off on the right side of the bed, feeling energized and refreshed. Even Griff constant awkwardness around him didn't seem to bother him, he kept staring at him when he thought he wasn't looking. He looked around Zoe, Elise and Kaori were actually eating together what seemed like a girl chat, Moby and Psymon ate quietly near each other and Vigo ate with Allegra who seemed to be in a grumpy mood. Mac ate and bid farewell to Nate and Griff who left to practice at the Happiness.

Mac decided to take the time to better know his environment and took a stroll through the town. He browsed through some of the equipment stores, trying on some new gear and talking to some of the owner on what's hot and reliable and what's not. The commune was now actually a little over crowded, which to him was not a big problem, he loved the crowds coming from the city he was used to them. He decided to eat dinner at a restaurant instead at the lodges café. Finally around six at night he headed back towards his room. He slid his card key in and walked in to his surprise their was nice wrapped package in front of him. He looked around to make sure no one was looking he walked up to it and examined the white card which said "To Mackenzie Fraser from Kaori" he smiled and took a wide look around noticing his room was a mess and the thought of Kaori seeing his room liked that irked him a bet and felt a little embarrassed. He unwrapped the elegant cloth, inside their was a strange figurine, it was a statue of a little man with large ears. Mac looked at with a comical expression he tried hard not to laugh as he put it down and read the note it said Fukusuke. Mac tried to figure out what was a Fukusuke all he knew that it looked odd but it was something about it he couldn't help but like he placed it on top of his television set along with the cloth it came with he then turned to lay down oh his bed and right when he was about to fall he noticed something odd. He stopped himself and grabbed the light color baby blue roll over beanie. This was not one of his clothes. He knew for sure he wouldn't be caught dead wearing something that cute. He examined it more was this Kaori's did she leave it here on purpose or was it an accident. He didn't know so tossed it aside on his on his nightstand and turned off the light.

.: Okay I'm not particularly happy with this chapter as you can see it's really slow… and short that is why I'm releasing this chapter with the next right away because the next chapter is back to all that SSX, "Competition" goodness on and off the course. With more dialogue! So basically this chapter is to explain how the tournament works for all those who care about ever little plot line detail. :.